Some strange occurrences in the UK’s computerized gaming industry have local businesses and residents concerned about their neighborhoods.

Violent attacks on gambling machines and fruit machines has more than doubled in the last six months in Haringey, with the most instances and other boroughs such as Islington, Camden, Hackney, Newham and Tower Hamlets. These criminal attacks on gambling machines are occurring frequently in pubs, social clubs and betting shops. The statistics are way up from six months ending 10/06 when there were 64 attacks, the same last six months in 2007 there have been 159 attacks reported.

These statistics were brought about by new companies wanting to get licensed to put in more machines. Nilgun Canver, Haringey Council's cabinet member for enforcement and safer communities said regarding these situations of damage, "We don't need this many betting businesses. It's disgraceful all these people coming into this area and putting in these applications.” She adds, “one of our challenges," and it was "a well-known fact in these places that people put lots of money into these machines, and when they don't win sometimes they use aggression".

Ian Sygrave, chairman of the Harringay Ladder Community Safety Partnership, is reported as saying "The increase in violence is pretty sizeable and that puts Haringey at the top of such offences in their group, by quite a way."

- 2007-11-07